


People Are Talking, But Not You

by ArtsyAfrodite



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Best Friends, Bipolar Disorder, Bipolar Ian, Brotp, Drinking, F/M, Friendship, Gallavich, Gen, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-24
Updated: 2014-07-24
Packaged: 2018-02-10 05:12:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2012229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtsyAfrodite/pseuds/ArtsyAfrodite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She turns her head and looks at her bedroom door, thinking to herself that what her best friend needs is more than likely on the other side.</p>
<p>*Some Ian and Mandy Brotp bonding (and some Gallavich in there too of course)*</p>
            </blockquote>





	People Are Talking, But Not You

**Author's Note:**

> So this week I have been having some serious Ian and Mandy feels. I really miss them being close as besties, so this happened. I wrote this today....it was something I had to get out. There's of course some Mickey in there too. This takes place at what would be considered the beginning of Season 5 (some influences from recent spoilers in there too just as an FYI). Hope you enjoy! :)

“I didn’t come here for you.”

Mickey snorts, feeling rather sarcastic, as Ian pushes pass him into the Milkovich house, his comment just another line from the horrendous movie that’s been their relationship lately.  He’s even recycling old lines now, carelessly throwing them around as Mickey feels him push his buttons as usual.  _Play.  Stop.  Rewind.  Replay._   “Tell me something I haven’t heard before,” Mickey waves off, “or something I _don’t_ know.”

Ian turns around, responding with a stabbing glower, his mouth halfway open, before he snaps it shut refusing to answer.  He stands stone silent for a few moments, Mickey gladly participating in their Mexican standoff of speaking no words as he crosses his arms.  The red head rolls his eyes, feeling defeated – there was no clear winner the moment they looked at each other.  Ian acquiesces because he’s tired from the string of fights they’ve had over the past few days.  “Where’s Mandy?” he finally asks dryly.

“You really wanna know that, or are you tryna find a way to actually talk to me right now?” Mickey challenges.  “Because you’re asking a question you know the answer to,” he continues as he points his head in the direction of Mandy’s closed bedroom door.  “She’s in her room.”

“Whatever,” Ian huffs as he makes his way towards her bedroom door.  He feels Mickey’s eyes on his back, and it makes his knees turn to jello despite not even looking at him.  He feels he may fall to his knees and crumble at the sound of his boyfriend letting out a surrendering sigh.

“You still mad at me?” Mickey asks solemnly.  And goodness, Ian can’t stand the sound of his voice when it’s like that.  It makes him weak and irrational.

Ian raps gently on Mandy’s door in place of answering Mickey right away.  He can practically hear the older boy holding his breath, a dropping pen something that would resonate loudly in the surrounding silence.  “I don’t know why I put up with your shit sometimes,” Ian says dully as Mandy swings open her bedroom door.

She squints her blue eyes at Ian when she sees him, the bags underneath her eyes something her best friend takes note of as soon as he looks at her.  She steps aside and clears a path for him, ushering him into her room with a welcoming hand as Mickey stands and stares, Ian’s comment still caught in the air.  He shakes his head as he smiles almost maniacally, pointing his finger at Ian’s back as he disappears into Mandy’s room.  “It’s because you fuckin’ love me,” he says just as Mandy scowls at him and shuts her door.  And Mickey isn’t sure if Ian hears him when he says this.

He does.

Mandy doesn’t ask why Ian is there, already hip to the game him and her brother play.  The current debacle at hand is the same one from the past week.  She eyes her best friend intently as he refuses to sit on the bed and instead paces back and forth, running his fingers aimlessly through his hair.  She knows he’s manic and therefore does what she always does – takes him as he comes.  She walks over to her bed and sits at the foot, her eyes moving back and forth with Ian’s pacing.  Asking him to sit down is something she knows she won’t ask him to do – she never does.

“You still mad at him?” Mandy finally breaks the ice.

Ian stops, only for a second, his green eyes landing quickly on her face, before he tears them away and puts his focus back on his frantic footing.  “I’m mad at everyone,” he huffs.  “Well except you of course.  You’re the only one I can talk to lately without judgment or telling me what I should and shouldn’t do.”  And as much as Mandy sometimes wants to be the one to tell Ian he needs help, she refrains from doing so and makes her ears available, offering words only when necessary.  She knows his family is giving him more than enough pressure to deal with.  She can see it settling as tension in his shoulders and the permanent frown stitched in his eyebrows.  He’s tired of the way everyone has been talking.

 

First it was Fiona, telling Ian he needed not be like their mother.

_“You can’t act like nothing’s wrong Ian,” Fiona said breathlessly as they jogged.  She could barely keep up with him.  “You don’t wanna turn into Monica.  You need help.”_

_Ian white-knuckle gripped the stroller as he sped up his pace, pushing Liam and Yevgeny.  “I’m fine,” he said through a tightened jaw.  And he was, so he thought._

Then it was Kev, putting in his two cents.

_“You thinkin’ about leaving with that creep?” Kev said perplexed as he scowled at the guy obviously cruising Ian.  The red head rolled his eyes at him and scoffed as he walked briskly away.  “What about Mickey?” Kev asked as he followed behind him, getting no response.  “Ian, c’mon man you’re not…you’re not thinking straight!”_

_And that was no pun intended._

It continued with fucking Frank of all people, talking about what he thought he knew – which was next to nothing.

_“Take it from me son,” Frank began as he took another swig out of his flask, “the highs are always really high, euphoric, and exciting to be around if you ask me.  But the lows are always the lowest of low, a real drag.  Your mother was like this.  It gets tiring.”_

But it was hearing his boyfriend and brother conspiring behind his back that sent him over the edge.

_“And you came to me why?” Lip asked a clearly upset Mickey suspiciously.  He and the Milkovich hated each other, so why Mickey was seeking help from him about his relationship issues was beyond him._

_“Because you’re his fucking brother and I’m worried about him,” Mickey said almost angrily.  It took a lot coming to Lip of all people, but he didn’t know where else to turn.  “He’s all over the place and needs fucking help.  I’m at my wits end.”_

_Lip eyed Mickey for a few moments, brushing away how leery he usually was, his face softening as he thought about the current state of his younger brother.  “Yeah, he does,” Lip agreed.  “We have to figure out a way to convince him without him realizing.”_

_The last step creaked underneath Ian’s foot as he had made his was stealthily down the stairs into their living room.  He was livid and felt betrayed.  Lip and Mickey’s eyes widened simultaneously as they looked at Ian._

_“I thought you were out with Mandy,” Mickey said almost nervously._

_“Didn’t know you were here,” Lip offered.  He opened his mouth to explain to Ian, but the red head was already out the front door before he could say anything further, a trail of smoke behind him._

_He was on fire._

 

Ian finally stops pacing and sits next to Mandy.  His leg still with a mind of its own doing the up and down dance she’s now accustomed to.  “You know Mickey’s crazy about you,” she says as she turns towards her best friend.  He’s chewing on his thumb nail now, a habit more than likely picked up from his boyfriend, the wheels turning in his mind.  He shakes his head as he turns and looks at her.

“You haven’t been sleeping,” he deflects her comment.  Mandy gets the hint – he obviously does not want to talk about Mickey right now.  “Kenyatta again?”

“Actually, no this time,” Mandy responds as she removes her bangs out of her face.  “Me.”  She knows Ian understands without her expounding further.  Sleep is something they’ve both been chasing, not seeming to get any closer from having to chase the things of themselves so much.  With Ian, it’s his mind he chases, and with Mandy, it’s her heart.  More often than not it’s gotten away from her and into the wrong hands that eventually discard of it, leaving her searching for it once again.  Ian always searches with her.

Ian smiles at his best friend, before bringing her in for an embrace.  It’s quick and erratic, the hug, but it’s comforting for the both of them nonetheless.  “Guys,” Ian says in a half chuckle.

“I know,” Mandy says, now smiling.

“How about we not talk about boyfriends and whatnot and get wasted while blasting music?” Ian says excitedly as he shoots up from the bed.  He’s practically jumping out of his skin, and for a second, a sadness comes over Mandy because she knows the reason he’s like this.  And suddenly she finds herself holding back the very words she knows Ian’s sick of hearing – _you need help_.  Instead she continues to smile quietly, letting her best friend continue.  “We can drink the rest of Iggy’s vanilla Absolut vodka and pig out on Doritos while we sing loudly along to Lorde songs,” Ian rambles on, “and I can tell you about these great new ideas I’ve been getting about gaming and possibly creating a new comic book even!”

“Sure,” Mandy agrees.  Ian practically bursts at the seams as she stands and exits her room to sneak the alcohol out of Iggy’s room. 

While she knows this is not the exact medicine Ian needs at the moment, she rests in the fact that this is what he wants.  She’s the one person who he can confide in without demands of difficulty.  Mandy ignores the disapproving looks her brother shoots her as she saunters out of Iggy’s room, vodka bottle in hand, a giant bag of Doritos under her arm.

“I’m not even gonna ask,” Mickey scoffs as she opens her door.

“Good, then don’t,” she responds mockingly right before she slams the door.

Mickey inwardly groans when he hears Lorde start to blast from her stereo speakers, wanting to retreat into his room and put in the earplugs he an Ian bought for Mandy to avoid hearing them when they banged his headboard into oblivion.  How ironic.  But the urge to do just that is nowhere near as strong as his need to touch Ian right now.

~~~

About three fourths of a bottle of vanilla Absolute later, a half a bag of ranch Doritos and Lorde’s album playing almost three times, Mandy wakes up, drunk off her ass and curled up in Ian’s arms.  He was way past wasted before she even got tipsy, talking at speeds of one hundred plus miles per minute, before the vodka slowed him down to a solid sixty. 

She props herself up and places her chin on his chest as she feels the rise and fall of his breathing.  He looks so peaceful, how drunk they are not even crossing her mind as she looks at how calm he is in his sleep.  Suddenly that old sadness from earlier returns because she knows he’s not peaceful or calm, the fights he’s been having with his family and now her brother making him worse.  He begins to stir, slight mumbling noises leaving his lips.  He opens his eyes slightly, half sleep, half awake, the alcohol coursing heavily through his veins.  She struggles to make out the first couple of words he says, but catches on as he gets clearer.

“W-why we gotta fight?” Ian says in a drunken slur.  “I…donnn…wanna fffight n’more.”

Mandy watches as his heavy lids flutter closed again as he begins to squirm in his drunken haze, falling back into sleep.  “You won’t cuz you’re my best friend,” Mandy responds hazily, even though she knows what he said wasn’t meant for her ears.  “I promise.”  She knows anyway that he probably doesn’t hear her or won’t even remember anything she’s just said.  Mandy feels a pang in her chest nonetheless because she knows Ian is in need.

She turns her head and looks at her bedroom door, thinking to herself that what her best friend needs is more than likely on the other side.

~~~

His eyes hurt as he opens them, thin tendrils of sunlight stabbing his pupils, giving him the worse headache.  He’s hung over and already itching for a run despite his body screaming at him that he simply can’t do that right now.  Alcohol is officially his enemy.  The room is blurry and Ian thinks hard as he tries to recall where he is.  _Mandy’s room.  Right._

He remembers very little after the lyrics, _“We don’t care, we aren’t caught up in your love affair,”_ falling sloppily out of his mouth at a decibel level that was probably illegal.  Ian moves slightly as he rubs his eyes to clear the sleep out of them to get a better view of what is going on around him.  It’s weird, because he knows he passed out in Mandy’s room, yet this bed doesn’t feel like hers.  He blinks his eyes as he props himself up on his elbows.  His jeans are off, and he’s covered from the waist down by a blanket that smells like – _him_.

“You finally up sleepyface?”  Ian jumps at the sound of Mickey’s voice and nearly rolls out of Mickey’s bed when he realizes where he is.  His boyfriend smirks as he stands up from a chair he was sitting in on the other side of the bed.

“The hell Mickey?” Ian says as he tries to gather himself, “Were you watching me sleep?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Mickey says as he lowers himself onto the bed next to Ian.  The red head flinches and inches away, only for his boyfriend to grab him by his waist to stop him.  “Don’t pull away from me,” he says staring down into uncertain green eyes.

“How’d I get in here,” Ian says almost agitated.  “I was with Mandy in her room.  What is this?  Some sort of set up?”  Before Mickey answers, Mandy bursts into the room, two plates of toast and eggs in her hands.

“Breakfast asswipes,” she says as she waltzes up to the bed, nonchalant, as if all is cool.  Ian frowns as he eyes his best friend without relent.

“You put me in here when I was passed out?” Ian asks incredulously. 

Mandy snickers as she places Ian’s plate of food into his lap.  “No dumbass.  I’m too scrawny to haul your lanky ass in here by myself.  Your boyfriend here helped, at my request, pretty much tossed you over his shoulder.  Impressive.”

“But you know I’m angry with him,” Ian huffs, not looking back at Mickey who’s hand is still planted firmly around his waist.

“Trust me, you’re not,” Mandy says as she begins to make her way out of the room.

“So this is how you do me?  Set me up?” Ian continues to press.  He’s not having any of this shit, despite the feel of Mickey’s hand and how it gently rubs his waist ever so often, making him melt slowly into the touch.

“What are best friends for?” Mandy smiles as she exits the room.

Ian rolls his eyes and exhales, surrendering.  Mandy wins again – and so does Mickey.  The red head finally turns to look his boyfriend in the eyes, instantly softening under his gaze.  It was a lost cause and he couldn’t stay angry if he tried.  Mickey doesn’t speak right away.  He instead brings his hand up to Ian’s face and brushes a few strands of hair away from his forehead.  He lets his fingers linger in his red hair for a few moments, Ian getting the silent message.  “I’m sorry too,” he sighs.

“You have to know I only want what’s best for you,” Mickey says as he presses their foreheads together, “you have to know that.”  And Ian does, but his mind lately only fights him knowing this, masking his ability to sympathize with too many racing thoughts – urges.  “But I’ll never force you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable.”

And suddenly Ian feels like maybe he’s been overreacting.  He realizes that Mandy was the one who never pressured him, only giving him what he wanted, which is what a best friend does.  She never talked while everyone else did, only listening to him.  But every now and again, a best friend finally helps you get what you need, knowing exactly how to do that without it seeming compulsory.  She knew Mickey was that very thing all along, despite any manic musings or drunken protests.

Ian pulls apart their foreheads and looks at Mickey.  He feels lucky and guilty at the same time.  “I don’t know why you put up with my shit sometimes,” he says admittedly.

“Because I fuckin’ love you,” Mickey responds.

And this, is exactly what Ian needs.  _Thanks Mandy._

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this one shot to the song "A World Alone" by Lorde. The title actually comes from the song. It's such a cute song that is so fitting for besties such as Ian and Mandy. Give it a listen! This fic was pretty much written on pure emotion from my Ian/Mandy feels and I just went where my words took me. I remember saying how I feel like Mandy would be the one person who would never question or pressure Ian about getting help and whatnot, just simply be his best friend and be there for him, and I hope this came across. The Mickey parts just sort of happened lol. As usual, thanks for reading! :)


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